TalkBox: Push to Talk is Back now with Voice Tweets and Status Updates

Push to talk was one of those features in early-age mobile phones that was taken for granted when it was around. When it disappeared, people were really missing it. In comes the age of the instant messaging where all...

Push to talk was one of those features in early-age mobile phones that was taken for granted when it was around. When it disappeared, people were really missing it. In comes the age of the instant messaging where all you need is 140 characters to get your point across. The TalkBox app for iPhone and Android wants to bring back the push to talk days of old but with a new twist of sending voice messages to Twitter and Facebook.

After you download the app and walk through the tutorial (it's simple to use, but you need to trust me and walk through the tutorial), you can invite friends from the usual channels - sms, Facebook, Twitter, and email. You can then select your friends from the contact list and hold the talk button at the bottom of the app while you voice your message. As soon as you release the button, your message is sent to the recipient just as fast as a sms or instant message. Your recipients can respond equally as fast to emulate that push to talk feeling of old.

If you really want to get fancy, you can send voice tweets or wall posts by sending the message to the Twitter or Facebook voice agents that are linked to your accounts. The Facebook agent shares the voice message to your wall. Your friends can click the the link to hear the voice message. The Twitter agent adds a special twist by letting you compose a description and append the tweet with a link to the voice message. Even though everybody who follows you can see the link and hear your message, you can @mention any user (even if they are not a TalkBox contact) for a more targeted message.

Now this may change if and/or when TalkBox takes off, but for now, the app is free and there are no ads anywhere to be found. So download TalkBox for iPhone and Android and bring back actually talking to people.